Nothing is official. Decisions concerning job openings at Salem Community Schools were made Monday (after our press time).
What we can report is SCS Superintendent Dr. Lynn Reed is recommending former Salem football star RJ Hartsfield to take over the position of head varsity football coach. She is also recommending the board hire varsity basketball Head Coach Hank Weedin as the new athletic director. Reed said she is very comfortable recommending the two candidates. “Of course nothing is official until Monday,” she said. “I can recommend who to hire, but ultimately it’s up to the board to make the decision.” Hartsfield, who holds a significant amount of the SHS rushing records, has spent the past few season coaching at Paoli under Head Coach Brian Balsmeyer. He now inherits a team that has won just six games over the past three season, but has a substantial amount of returning players. “We narrowed the field to four candidates and all of them were very good and would have been capable of doing a good job,” Reed said. “All four candidates were pros and they all had a lot of positives, but at this time we felt like the he (Hartsfield) was the person for the job.” As for the AD position, Weedin will add to his current role as head basketball coach. Reed said should the board approve the hiring, Weedin plans to continue in his position as head basketball coach, where he has compiled a 143-137 record in 13 seasons including two sectional championships and one trip to the regional finals. “Coach Weedin has been a quality teacher and a quality coach and we know he will be a quality athletic director,” Reed said. A reception was held Monday following the school board’s approval of the two hirings. See more on Hartsfield and Weedin in next week’s issue of The Washington County Edition.